Lee B. Rauch
Principal
Litigation
Lee has practiced civil litigation since 1993. He represents businesses and individuals in a wide variety of matters in federal and state courts in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. His practice has a focus on complex commercial matters and business torts. He is experienced in the automotive, real estate, financial services, and health care industries, among others. Before joining Funk & Bolton, Lee practiced at a boutique litigation firm as well as at a prominent Maryland firm where he held positions that included Deputy Chair of the firm’s litigation department and Chair of the Associate Development Committee.
Lee is an advocate who puts a premium on achieving a favorable result for clients in an efficient manner. He has represented clients in mediations, trials, arbitrations, and appeals involving:
- Complex commercial litigation including contracts, fraud and other business torts, and shareholder/partnership disputes;
- Insurance defense and coverage
- Employment discrimination claims; and
- Real estate litigation including landlord tenant and homeowners association matters
Automotive Industry
Lee has represented clients in the automotive industry his entire career. His practice focuses on the defense of automobile dealerships, ranging from national dealership groups to locally owned stores, in the areas of: TILA, ECOA, and other financing statutes; misrepresentation; consumer protection laws; negligence; product liability; breach of warranty; premises liability; breach of contract; and employment law claims. Lee also represents providers of automobile finance and insurance products. He has also represented auto manufacturers in lemon law and warranty claims as well as rental car companies in personal injury suits.
Representative Matters
- Defended an auto dealer in a customer suit claiming that the dealer wrongfully failed to disclose that it would receive part of the financing charges and won summary judgment;
- Defended a national home improvement franchisor in a suit brought by customers of a defunct franchisee;
- Represented a homeowners association in claims brought by a homeowner and won a motion to dismiss;
- Defended a credit union on claims brought by a consumer related to mortgage refinancing;
- Defended a corporation on a consumer’s claim of identity theft and won summary judgment;
- Represented a commercial sub-lessor and won summary judgment on claims brought by the landlord;
- Defended a corporation on a claim of breach of a land sale contract and won summary judgment;
- Defended a closely-held company in a shareholder derivative suit and won a motion to dismiss; and
- Negotiated a successful settlement for a home improvement franchisor in a claim brought by a terminated franchisee.
Lee has briefed and argued before Maryland’s Supreme Court of Maryland and Appellate Court of Maryland and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Leadership
Lee has volunteered as a team leader and faculty member for the “Deposition Practice and Procedures” program held by the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, and later the MSBA, from 2000 to the present.
Lee is a former president of the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He also has been active in the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, having chaired its Trial Techniques Committee and Task Force on Outreach to Local and State Bars, among several other positions.